Residential landlord and tenant law is complicated in Kentucky
because the Uniform Landlord and
Tenant Act (URLTA), as enacted by
the Kentucky legislature, applies
to residential renters in some parts of the Commonwealth, but not in other
parts. In Kentucky, URLTA is
available as a local government option, to be enacted as local governments see
fit, or not. Consequently, whether the provisions apply to any particular
residential tenancy depends upon the geographic location of the residence.
Generally speaking, the larger urban centers in Kentucky,
such as Louisville and Lexington,
have locally adopted URLTA but the more rural areas have not.
The URLTA provisions do not apply to commercial and
agricultural renters, wherever they may be located in the Commonwealth. URLTA
applies only to residential tenancies in areas that have adopted that law
locally.
Kentucky
landlords have a statutory lien for unpaid rent on the tenant’s personal
property, which may be recovered by attachment or by action, KRS 383.010, et
seq., even if the rent debtor’s property is in the possession of a third party.
KRS 383.020(1) states, “A distress warrant or attachment for rent shall bind,
and may be levied upon, any personal property of the original tenant found in the county . . . .” This
language indicates the subject personal property of the rent debtor does not
necessarily have to be found on the leased premises. This landlord remedy is
traditionally known as distraint for rent. The URLTA, on the other hand,
abolishes distraint for rent, KRS 383.680, for residential tenants, in those
areas where URLTA applies.
Seizing a person’s personal property in the hands of a third
party to satisfy a debt for rent has the same look and feel as does a non-wage
garnishment, but it has an entirely different statutory foundation.
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